A very productive week - KW 46

Monday and Tuesday I worked quite long hours.

On Wednesday I had a day off. I mainly used the day off for housework. Cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, and everything else that comes with it. In the evening, I had an appointment with a woman who wanted to check out my bike. A few days ago, I posted an ad on Gumtree (similar to ebay) to sell my bike. Many people showed interest, but this woman immediately asked for an appointment, which was on Tuesday, and she would like to have the bike at the end of November. This made me very happy. Now I just hope that she doesn't change her mind at the last minute. After her visit, Marie and I cooked and enjoyed pumpkin soup. It wasn't as delicious as at home, but it still tasted good. By the way, there is almost no pumpkin left in the supermarkets here. On Halloween, every supermarket was full of pumpkins, but the next day they were nowhere to be found. It remains a winter vegetable. Afterwards, we watched a Christmas movie to create a bit of Christmas atmosphere.

On Thursday Ben and I went to the city. First, we bought vegetables and fruit at the market. Then we dealt with our tax return. So, in the city, we went from one tax consultant to another and asked for information. In the end, we also found out. The tax year here doesn't end, like ours, at the end of the year, but it ends in July-June. That's why we have to file our tax return by then. However, it's not as easy as we thought. We have to declare something twice. Once, we can declare it at the end of November to get a part of the taxes back, and once we have to do it when we are back home, otherwise our visa will expire as well. By the way, there are many different and conflicting pieces of information on the internet. The information ranges from 'backpackers don't get any taxes back' to 'you get all the taxes back'. Currently, we don't know how much we will get back, but we will find out soon. So, it remains very exciting when it comes to tax refunds. Strangely, Ben pays a higher percentage of taxes than me, even though we checked and applied for exactly the same things. Very strange. It remains to be seen and to continue asking.
Since we bought a lot of vegetables at the Victoriamarket, I precooked some soups in the evening. After work, we just have to quickly defrost the soups and we have a delicious and healthy dinner. So, I cooked a beetroot soup and a courgette soup, which we will enjoy soon. That was my evening activity.

On Friday, Ben had to work early and I had a shift at 3 o'clock. Marie currently has a friend in Melbourne, with whom she has experienced a lot in Bali. This friend visited us on Friday morning and we went to St. Kilda together. Afterwards, I went straight from St. Kilda to Brighton for work.

On Saturday and Sunday I worked the whole time. Altogether, I worked over 20 hours on both days. The weather was very good. It was over 30 degrees and therefore the restaurant was full from morning to evening. I was particularly happy about the visit from Flizzi, Grantley, and Flizzi's girlfriend. They visited me on Sunday morning. By the way, I got sunburned while working. Almost no one can claim that they got sunburned while working.
On the way back through Elsterwick, I noticed that the little town already has lovely Christmas decorations. A huge nutcracker figure, Christmas wreaths, and Christmas stars adorn the cityscape. In St. Kilda, too, there is already a giant Christmas tree next to the usual palm trees.